Puzzle toy



Patented Nov. 11, 1952 James J. Nolan, Danbury, and Charles J.

Hoyenski, Bethel, Conn.

Application October 6, 1949, Serial No. 119,98 1

" This invention relates to toy devices so constructed as to be normally strung along an elastic strand, wherein proper assemblage of the toy ele- 'ments on the strand will produce a resulting mechanical toy, in which all of the elements are I firmly held in assembled relationship to each other. More particularly, the invention deals "with a puzzle toy of the character described whereinthe several elements are so grooved and otherwise formed as to conceal substantially all ofthe holding strand when the elements are properly and completely assembled.

The novel features of the invention will behest understood from the following description, when taken togetherwith the accompanying drawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention 'are disclosed and, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and, in 'whichi l 'Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a toy made according to'our invention in assembled position.

i In devices of the type and kind under consideration,-it is known to provide a plurality of elements or parts which, when assembled, will construct a toy or article of manufacture and, in

most cases, these devices are in the form of building or erector'sets but, as such, the various partsare independent and means are required to hold the parts in their assembled relationship.

The purpose of our invention is to provide a complete unitary assemblage arranged upon an.-

elongatedstrand preferably of extensible mate- 'rial in order-t provide a tensional holding of ,the parts in assembled relationship; 7 thus to construct aresulting toy, it is necessary to solve the problem. of proper assemblage of the parts in order to produce the resulting toy. Inthis way, 1 achild can be kept occupied fora considerable length of;time in order to solve the problem of assemblage and; after the toy has been-assem- :bled, the child hasan operatable mechanical toy, .particularly, if the resulting toy is of a type including wheels. In this connection, it will be un- 'derstood that any type-and kind of toy or article can be produced in the same manner and, to illustrate one adaptation and use ofthe inven tion, the representation of a locomotive is shown.

ConsideringFig. '1 of th'e drawing, here is indicated ;a perspective view of a toy locomotive fwh sn com r s. frq t n re r. w r: part ."l -'-"sna"|-|'- andan intermediate-lower'part 12:"111

4'C laims. (Cl. 273-156) assemblage of the toy, thelocomotivecomprises three other parts disposed above the parts l0, I2 and II, respectively, namely the parts 13, I4, and I5. Arranged upon the upper portion of the part I5 is a top hood part IS. The parts ill-i6, in-

clusive, may be regarded as body parts. Arranged in suitable sockets H, l8 and [9 on the upper surface of the part [3 and the part 14 are other locomotive parts such, for example, as the representation of a chimney 20, the representation of a steam exhaust 2| and representation of a bell 22. The part l3 has, on its front surface, two other sockets 23 and 24. The socket 23 is adapted to receive the representation of a headlight 25; whereas the socket is adapted to receive a locomotive cylinder front 26, which will also be referred to as a plug end on the resulting device.

The parts It! and I2 have, at their lower surface, transverse sockets or recesses 2'! and 28, respectively, for reception of axle portions 29 and 30 on wheel parts 3! and 32. These wheel parts have wheels rotatably mounted at the ends of the axle portions 29 and 30, as clearly seenin the drawing. The various parts mentioned may also be characterized as elements of the puzzle in the resulting toy device.

Now considering Fig. 3 of the drawing, it will appear that these parts or elements are united on an elongated strand 33, preferably of strong lowing arrangement.

One end of the strand has-a knot 34 anchored and embedded in the part or element 26. The strand first passes through the axle of the elements 3|, 32; then through an elongated aperture 35 in the element l6; then through apertures in the elements 22, 2|, 20 and 25, respectively, then through an aperture 36 in the element 13,-through an aperture 31 in the element l4 and an aperture 38 in the element i5 an aperture 39 in the element II and then through an aperture 40 in the element 2. The last named aperture 40 has an enlarged portion M at one end to receive a loop or eye 42 on the element l0 and the other end of the strand 33 is fixed to the eye 42.

In addition to the provision of the various apertures 35-40 for reception of the strand 33, the various parts have grooves in peripheral surfaces to embed the strand in the parts or elements so as to be invisibleexternally of the toy.

elastic or elastic and fibrous material in the fol- This constructionprovides"around thejperiphery Fig. l of the drawing and it will be seen from Fig. 2 of the drawing that this slot opens through the front and bottom surfaces of the part or element ID, the lower surface of the element i2, the lower and rear surface of the element l I, the rear surface of the element l5, part of the lower surface of the element 16 and the upper surface of the element [4 and the upper and front surface of the element I3;

In assembling the toy, the element is swung upon the top of the element H, the element It is swung onto the element 12 and the element [3 on top of element [0, after which the elements 25, 20, 2i, and 22 are successively placed in position in their respective sockets in the .manner clearly seen in Fig. 2 after which the element (6 is arranged upon the element It, then-the two wheel elements 32, 3! are successively mounted upon the lower surface of the elements 22 and I0, respectively, and finally the plug element 2% is placed in the socket 24, whichcompletes the assemblage of the vehicle.

When the various ,partsor elements are assembled in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 nd 2, a sturdy wheeled toy is provided which can be pushed about or drawn about on a floor or surface, all of the parts and elements being firmly held in abutting relationship to each other.

While it is possible to forcibly separate some of the parts to a slight degree, disassemblage of the parts is impossibleby virtue of the lock or key construction provided by arrangement of the strand 33 in the slots-of therespective parts. However, when quick disassemblage is desired,

all that is necessary is to forcibly remove the plug'.

part or element 25 and to hold this element in the hand; whereupon the remaining elements will become disassembled by simply shaking the toy and the same will extend themselves along the strand 33 in the relationship indicated in Fig; 3, but with all of the parts disposed in common alinement. In the accompanying drawing, the showing is schematic simply to include the structure clearly on the drawing. It will also be understood that the parts-will be in a close assemblage with respect to each other on the strand. In this connection, it is desirable that a relatively free unbinding mounting of the several parts or elements on the strand be provided, so as to facilitate free movement of the parts along the strand in assemblage.

It will also be apparent that in assembling, the strand is tensioned as the various parts are placed in abutting engagement with each other. This insures thefirm assemblage of the parts in the resulting toy and,.as thus assembled, produces'a strong and durable -toy.

It will be readily apparent that-vehicles of different-types and kinds can be produced in the manner defined and sets of such vehicles, for example, acomplete train-with several cars can beproduced, each complete unit being assembled in the manner defined.

It will also be understood that by the type of grooving employed, greater complications can be provided in the solution to the toy assemblage to have toys of the kind under consideration of interest to children of many ages, in fact, of interest to grown folks.

lhe parts or elements can be composed of any desired material, such as wood, metal or plastic and, in some. constructions, the parts can be characterized, forexample, as illustrated in Fig. 1,.of the drawing to enhance the appearanceof V the resulting toy.

It is also to be understood that the strand 3| may be said to comprise a hinder or key member for holding the various parts in not only the assembled relationship, but also in alined relationship with each other. Where a still more sturdy construction is required, the various parts or elements may be further keyed together as will be apparent.

Having fully described our invention; what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A. puzzle article of manufacture of the class described, comprising a plurality of complementary parts disposed upon an elongated strand, two of said parts being fixed to terminal ends of the strand, the other parts being fixed against displacement. from and movable longitudinally of the strand between said end parts and adapted to be positioned on each other to form, in the solution of the puzzle, a unitary ssemblage of predetermined character, a number of the parts forming the body of the assemblage, the outer of said body forming parts in the assembly having alined peripheral recesses when assembled for reception of said strand when wrapped around said assemblage to hold it together, and one end part being in the form of a plug insertable into a socket of one of the body partsin holding the various parts in assembled relationship.

2. A puzzle article of manufacture of the class described, comprising a plurality of complementary parts disposed upon an elongated strand, two of said parts being fixed to terminal ends of the strand, the other parts being fixed against displacement from and movable longitudinally of the strand between said end parts and adapted to be positioned on each other to form, in the solution of the puzzle, a unitary assemblage of predetermined character, a number of the parts forming the body of the assemblage, the outer of said body forming parts in the assembly having alined peripheral recesses when assembled for reception of said strand when wrapped around said assemblage to hold it together, one end part being in the form of a plug insertable into a socket of one of the body parts in holding the various parts in assembled relationship, and predetermined body parts having recesses opening through outer surfaces thereof for reception of other parts of the toy arranged on said strand.

3. A puzzle article 'of manufacture of the class described, comprising a plurality of complementary parts disposed upon an elongated strand, two of said parts being fixed to terminal ends of the strand, the other parts being fixed against displacement from and movable longitudinally of the strand between said end parts and adapted to be positioned on each other to form, in the solution of the puzzle, a unitary assemblage of predetermined character, a number of the parts forming the body of the assemblage, the outer of said body forming parts in the assembly having alined peripheral recesses When assembled for reception of said strand when wrapped around said assemblage to hold it together, one end part being in the form of a plug insertable into a socket of one of the bodyparts in holding the various parts in'assembled relationship, predetermined body parts having recesses opening through outer surfaces thereof for reception .of other parts of the toy arranged on said strand, and twoof said last named parts including wheels.

4. A puzzle article of manufacture of the class described, comprising a plurality. of complementary partsdisposed upon an elongated strand,

two of said parts being fixed to terminal ends of the strand, the other parts being fixed against displacement from and movable longitudinally of the strand between said end parts and adapted to be positioned on each other to form, in the solution of the puzzle, a unitary assemblage of predetermined character, a number of the parts forming the body of the assemblage, the outer of said body forming parts in the assembly having alined peripheral recesses when assembled for reception of said strand when wrapped around said assemblage to hold it together, one end part being in the form of a plug insertable into a socket of one of the body parts in holding the various parts in assembled relationship, and said 15 strand being concealed within the alined recesses of the body parts in the assemblage of said parts.

JAMES J. NOLAN. CHARLES J. HOYENSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 956,632 Finch May 3, 1910 1,201,710 Finch Oct. 17, 1916 1,521,573 Myers Dec. 30, 1924 2,092,687 Yancey Sept. 7, 1937 2,429,027

Myers Oct. 14, 1937 

